AILA: Trump Administration Restarts Family Detention Guaranteeing Harm and Trauma to Children and Parents

Washington, DC —In early March, the Trump Administration resumed the practice of detaining families pending their court proceedings at the detention facility in Karnes County, Texas and has indicated plans to use a second facility in Dilley Texas for family detention. The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) condemns this horrible practice:

AILA President Kelli Stump stated, “The Administration has not articulated a single, understandable reason for President Trump to restart the cruel, truly abhorrent practice of detaining families. The deprivation of liberty is a power that should be used rarely and only when absolutely necessary. The targeting of immigrant families will cause deep lasting harm to these children and their parents and is simply reprehensible. When this practice has been used in the past, volunteer AILA attorneys through the Immigration Justice Campaign, visited women and children in the facilities, typically in remote hard-to-reach regions, and discovered unsafe conditions, abusive practices, and crimes including sexual assaults by guards. Medical experts and numerous government reports have revealed the horrific physical and mental health consequences of detaining families. We appeal to the President to turn away from this heartless practice.”

AILA Executive Director Ben Johnson stated, “Hundreds of AILA members have done everything they can to offer legal representation and assistance to the families trapped in inhumane, unsafe, and abusive conditions. Now, the administration is arresting families that have been here for up to a decade and have jobs and ties to their communities, harming the families and the communities and employers that rely on them. America needs an orderly, effective system to manage the border and immigration, but Americans also want a fair and humane process. The right strategy is an all-of-government approach that builds up resources to improve all facets of our immigration system including law enforcement strategies as well as solutions for people who have lived in the country for years but have no viable way to register and obtain permanent legal status. AILA urges President Trump to implement alternatives that ensure immigration law is enforced but do not subject families to inhumane jail-like detention.”